Official Colors
by Doc Scratch
Summary: Matt gets into the holiday spirit! ...Maybe a bit too much...


A/N: How could I resist? ...Well maybe if I'd tried harder... Dunno... Anyway, enjoy this bit of funny nonsense.

Summary: Matt gets into the holiday spirit! ...Maybe a bit too much...

Title: Official Colors

Anticipation was a dangerous thing for anyone, but most especially for children. That the children of Wammy's House were all smart enough to make rocket scientists everywhere give up their claim to a certain cliche didn't matter much. Not today, anyway. Likely not tomorrow, either. And the day after that wasn't looking too promising on said front.

It was the twenty-third of December, and just about all of the children at the orphanage were so excited that they were pretty much vibrating at a high frequency of suppressed glee. Christmas was coming! Presents were coming! Candy and sweets and joy were coming!! The snow was already here, and they loved that, but somehow it would seem all the more magical on the day in question. The children all had different ways of dealing with the wait. Many threw themselves harder in their studies, in an effort to try and pass the time faster. Several indulged themselves overmuch in their respective quirks, preferences, addictions, whatever you want to call it. The top three of Wammy's each heralded Christmas in their own unique way.

Near, the stoic white genius, was probably the most collected child in the whole place despite the fact that his love for toys was the stuff of legends. He knelt where he always spent his free time, on the playroom floor, playing epic, unfathomable games with his various playthings. If perhaps he was a little more attentive to his surroundings than was the norm, no one noticed in the midst of their own trepidation. He was easily overlooked by the other currently excitable orphans.

Mello, the brilliant ever-volatile blonde, was more on edge than usual. Devouring his chocolate almost too quickly for more to be acquired, and rocketing around the orphanage at high speeds to burn off the excess energy, heedless of anything or anyone unfortunate enough to get in his way. The complete opposite of Near, his boisterous yelling and hectic dashing and/or crashing about were not to be ignored.

Matt, the normally chill and unfocused gamer, delighted in playing up everyone's impatience. Holidays were the time of year he found the most entertaining. There was so much raw potential in the air, he could practically taste it. And the festivities! So much tradition and ideas and highly recognizable symbols... In the end, it really only came down to the question of why it had taken so long for Matt to come up with his newest idea. A quick trip to the store with his saved-up allowance was all it took to seal the deal.

* * *

The twenty-fourth, and the youthful residents of Wammy's House were at their breaking point. It was really rather ridiculous, they all agreed when they stopped to consider it, but there were so few things to get truly thrilled about that none of the children could resist letting loose on the holidays, especially one as fundamentally huge as Christmas. Mello bounced out of bed that morning, showering quickly and having finished three chocolate bars between getting out of the shower and getting dressed. He and Matt shared the room, but the gamer was nowhere to be found. Mello wrote this off as Matt simply getting up early and being too energized to wait.

At least, until the blonde made it downstairs and found a large crowd. It was difficult to tell what had drawn them together, seeing as how they were packed too tightly to see into the center, but Mello had an odd feeling that he knew who was behind this. He pushed forward, parting the other orphans without any real difficulty. Everyone knew better than to piss off Mello, especially a Mello wound this tightly and operating on so much chocolate.

Upon reaching the source, Mello could only stare. Matt grinned at him, adjusting his goggles smartly.

"Hey Mel! Whatcha think?" Matt barely contained the wave of laughter in his chest that welled up at the expression on Mello's face.

"...You dyed your hair..." Mello stated numbly.

"Yep!" Matt chirped happily. A short pause here.

"...You dyed your hair... _green._" Mello sounded incredulous, at best.

"Do you like it?"

"_Like_ it!?" Mello blinked, "Matt you look like a tree!"

"No, I look like Christmas!" Matt protested, the grin never fading. Mello pressed his hand to his forehead exasperatedly.

"You're a moron, Matt. You'd better hope that washes out soon." Mello sighed, "I'd also recommend wearing a hat until it does. Who knows what Roger would do if he saw you?" Matt shrugged.

"Probably nothing. It's not permanent." Here the gamer's smile grew wicked, "I think I like it though. I might just keep it this way. Hair dye isn't that expensive in the box." Mello groaned and, still shaking his head, turned around and tromped back up the stairs for more chocolate. After a few minutes more staring and asking of questions and awed admiration, the group dispersed and everyone went back to waiting impatiently for Christmas morning.

A certain former redhead darted off to the playroom to show off his new look to his best friend's rival. With a little luck, he'd get as priceless a reaction as with Mello. Damn, maybe he should've bought a camera too...

END.

A/N: Everyone kept saying Matt's official colors make him look like Christmas!! It was only a matter of time before this idea occurred to me, and when it did... I couldn't help but write it.


End file.
